Sterile brush dispenser



Dec. 8, 1953 J. PETRECCA 2,661,991

STERILE BRUSH DISPENSER Original Filed April 14, 1950 5 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR. rfqsqozi Pe/rec'c'a Dec. 8, 1953 J. PETRECCA 2,561,991

STERILE BRUSH DISPENSER Original Filed April 14, 1950 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. (Ive w? fiezjw BY a} gmw A TORNEY Dec. 8, 1953 J. PETRECCA 2,661,991

STERILE BRUSH DISPENSER Original Filed April 14, 1950 I 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 v0,nuuuununluu IIIIIIIIIIIlIll/i v INVENTOR. Jos 0k Pezz'ec'cra 68 12 BY v Z 0913a;

ATTORNEY Patented Dec. 8, 1953 2,661,991 *szmams nnusnnrslaflsnn :Joseph retre'eca, BloomfieldgiNv-J.

Original application April 14, 1950, f'ser al "No.

155,834. Divideilfand tliis appiicationNovember 1' -3, 1950; ser al No. leases I This invention relates to a brush icnntainer and dispenser especiallyadapted :ior use in .Vdispensling sterilized abrushes that 1231 16 especially useful in hospitals or other places wheresuchdevices should :be --:used.

This {present application is a continuation :in greater.part:of myapplicationis. N. 155,834,5fi1ed aApr-il 1950, not/abandoned;

in the present day practice, :before performing any :operation :a surgeon or nurse should *clean their {hands --with brushes that have been thorbughly- 's-terilized. Brushes "for thispurpose ware usually-of iawsmallrsize which have been substantially standardized and .the practice .is to :put a plurality ef these, usuallyiaidozen ina dispensing container :afterthebrushes have beenwsterilized. It :is-one-ef the objects of .:my invention to sprowiden-easing preterably-iofsuitable metal such as Monel-or stainless :steel or other rust; proof types of material, :whereby-thebrushes can :bei-nserted into the casing and the wholeassembly-sterilized 43 5- 3, unit. lt-is anotherwobject of vmycinyention taprov-ide acasing in whichthe sterilizedibmlshes can be :easily and quickly -di-spensedwithout the bristles of :the :brush @coming into montact with the hand iof -t-he user oriany receptacle into :which the brush may be dropped, it being understood that the receptacle :used has :been previously sterilized. v

A further obj ect isvtopnovide a dispensenwhich ,tis completely-sealedso that :no contaminatejd' ma- :terial 1 can enter the casing While there are any brushes :in -it. A still further object of imy inmention is to provide a qeasingifor :the :purposes described, which is relatively simple :and inex- .1 .Claim. (clean- .7

pensive to manufacture gy-et one in .whichthe of Figure 1 in full open position without any brushes; 7 I e. .Figure 3 a viewrshowingthe bot-tom;portions of the two sides-of the casi ngoi Figurefl about .onthe line-3.3;

Fi ure 4315 a front mew-eta modifiedifcrm 10f dispenser with the filling door aopen :as well :25 theqbrush :id-ispen'sing-door, r11 tbrushe's :being indieat-edin :brokenzlines;

iaz'section on the Ainemf Figwe 4:; I

fligure iisliszawiew :oif-"the lower-part of another :structure "withaa izpiortion of the filling :cover bemg shownand'th discharge {cover in open-posiition; v

Figure -7 :is ;a =-section --.on Figure -6 similar to *Eigurewais a viewof the lower-pant of Fig'ure'l taken from the -opposite side with a part of the casing broken away to showwadditional-means tor simultaneously opening the cover. and =-reteasing ea brush;

j Figure illais a :bottom end view'of Fig-urelO '.Wiiihj17h6 icover in :open position;

Figure 12 is a side view of the parts shownin figure l:l -:onithe time 5112, L2 of Figure 10.

he theditfenent *Y-iBTWS wherein like numbers refer to correspondingeparts -I is a casing having afilling-idoor 2 l-hingedizat iiwand- 4 tea-side 5 of ltheieasing. "whis sidefi hasifastened thereto as by inf-vets, tor .spot weldingagpair of mounting clips 6 and -wvhieh,-have fingers :for slipping into bracksets J! sand '49 :preferably punched I outwardly from :a :mounting :strip :iifl adapted .to be fastened to some support member :by screws going through holes JEI \inthe-strip 10.

Hinsedto theebottom of the casing, preferably to zthe {side :5 is =aibottom or dispensing :cover 1-2 which hasesidecfiangesli Sand one-end-flange I 4 to flit-closely over the lower edges of the casing as sshownzinfiigure l. {It will abet-noted that the lower mentions inland A56 :otxthecasing extend beyond aeross braced landane :embraced ,by the flanges of the never t2 and-the cross brace :11 is also overlapped thy sthe flange I13. The lower part of -;the reanwa-ll of the easing; has 23, cut out sec- :tion #118, :the purpose f which will ,be laterexplained. rEastened to the inside 0f the side wall {Seas by a screyvaorari-vet L9 is -a guide member 10 hawing an inwardly ofise-t .21 that acts on the handle portion :22 of ,a brush 'to vpush the brush ovemtowardsthe-opposite side of the casing. Back orthegguidepmember ,20 is positioned a resilient member 23 whichtmay be held in place by one of @the :riivets that helps to hold the clip 1 in place. llhe guide member has aninturned "lip '34 having 'anotcha'lherein to let the end=of spring mom-her :priotrude "to a pointladja-cent ti-te-ninturnediled'ge 25 (seeaFigiire 2) which serves *tozcaiteh zrme-endrofuthe brush handle while the siii ing flpushesithe hrushso itshpp'ositeend will be sure to rest on-*the ledge z 6. lt is 'to be umlerstood that the casing is filled by passing the brushes through the opening provided at the top of the casing as defined by cut away portions 27 and 28 in the side guide flanges 29 and 30.

To remove a brush from the dispenser, the bottom door is pulled downwardly to cause the hole or recess 3! in the flange l4 to leave the boss 32 in the side wall of the casing. After the door I2 is moved to the position as shown in Figures 2 and 3 the handle portion 22 of which is of wood or suitable plastic is seized between the fingers and thumb of one hand of the operator with the palm up and the handle pushed to the left looking at Figure 3 against spring 23 until the opposite end of the brush leaves the ledge 26 When the brush with the aid of spring 23 may be easily and quickly removed. It is to be noted that th width of the cut out section i8 is about the thickness of the handle of the brush and thereby makes room for the fingers of the operator to grasp the side of the brush handle. As soon as the lower brush is removed the spring 23 moves immediately inwardly and engages a downcoming brush and pushing it into the position for removal as has been described and if only one brush is desired, then the cover !2 is moved to closed position.

It may be noted in passing that the loading door may be held in closed position by a clip 33 having a recess to engage a boss 34 on the side of the box as shown in Figure 2. Also this same side has a holder plate 35 held in place by a lip 54 engaging the edges of a slot in the casing and a screw 36. The plat 35 carries a transparent member 31 which may be of glass to show when the brushes in the dispenser are getting toward the end of the stack which usually is ten or twelve brushes.

In the form shown in Figure 4 the plate 38 of the casing has fastened thereto in any satisfactory manner, a pair of oppositely disposed guide spring members 39 and 48 having an offset similar to 2i of spring 25, Figure '3, and each has a finger 4| (see Figure engaging the plate 38' opposite the door 2, to approximately fix the movement of the springs toward the Plate 38. Also each of the springs 39 and 40 has a cut out portion 42, spaced one from the other, a little more than the length or the brush handle. For

co-operaticn with cut out portions 42 the plate 38 has a cutaway part 43. The sides of the casing at their lower ends have ledges 44 and 45 which receive the handle of each brush as it drops down. When the bottom cover [2 is moved to open position, the brush handle may be grasped and the brushes slide out on the ledges 44 and 45 through the cut away portion 43 in the wall 38.

In Figures 6, 7, 8, and 9, the brushes are delivered from the dispenser by a different action of parts. In these figures a member 45 is pivoted at 4? between the plate 38 and the flange 29 and an operating lever 48 is attached to one of the pivot studs or the studs may be integral with member 46. The bottom part of member 46 has an ofiset portion 49 which is engaged by a spring 5%; that is positioned against the side of th easing to which the mounting members 5 and I are attached. The upper part of member 46 carries a roller 5i which as shown in Figure 7, is located, due to the action of spring 5!}, below the end of the guide member 52 and closer to the side of the casing than the inner edge 52' of the guide member 52, which may be a channel shaped member extending from just above the roller 5| to a point near the top of the casing or the guide member may be much shorter and of a difierent form as shown in Figure 9.

In the forms shown in Figures 6-9 wherein a member similar to 46 is used along with an operating lever, either th side 5 of the casing will require a recess therein to receive member 46 or else the casing will need to be a little wider to carry it in proper position to handle the brushes and this extra width must be taken up by a guide member to hold the brushes in operative alignment. This is done in Figures 6 and '7 by using a relatively longchannel piece 52 which may have a depth such that the web of the channel is substantially in line with the inner edge of flange 29, depending of course, on the width of this flange.

Iprefer for this wider casing the channel type guide member 52 over the shorter guide member 54 shown in Figure 9 wherein the member 54 is similar to member 25 of Figure 3 except no spring like 23 is required.

Also an assistant stop member in the form of a pin 53 is located between the plate 38 and the side flange 38.

In this form the handle of the lower brush normally rests against the pin 53 and the offset in the pivoted member 45. To extract a brush from the dispenser the bottom cover I 2 is opened and the handle 48 moved downwardly and the bottom brush will be moved into a'suitable receptacle 01' a hand of the operator (see Figure 7). The movement of the member 46- by its lever 48 will at the same time move the roller 5| inwardly into the path of a downcoming brush and at the same time the opposit end of the brush handle will be moved to engage the stop pin 53.

In Figures 10, 11 and 2 I have shown an improved form of the structure shown in Figure '7 in that the cover I2 below the brushes, is hinged at 58 along one side of the casing instead of on an edge as in the other figures.

Fastened to the inside wall of the cover I2 is a device or bent finger 51 under which projects the bent end of an arm 55 that is operatively connected to the lever 48. As shown, the arm 55 is of round material and preferably when so made, has its end 56 flattened or ground off and slight- 1y curved upwardly as shown in Figure 10 so in operation, the end of the arm will not get blocked on the bottom of the side wall of the casing.

With this construction the cover and arm 55 are operated by the lever 48 at the same time that the bottom brush is released. Other than the additions above described, the construction is the same as in Figure 7 and its associated figures.

From what has been said it will be seen that many of the details may be varied without departing from the spirit of my invention and the scope of the appended claim.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is A sterile brush dispenser for the type of brush described, including a casing preferably of suitable metal and having internal dimensions to properly hold a plurality of brushes in stacked relation on supports at the bottom of the casing with the backs of the brushes towards said supports and exit end of the casing, means for supporting the casing, means associated with the casing for allowing brushes to be placed therewithin, a fixed stop member for one end of the bottom brush, a member pivoted near the bottom of the side of the casing opposite to said fixed stop and having a stop portion normally extending downwardly and inwardly into the path of the 5 downward movement of the brushes, said pivoted member having an upwardly extending part pref erably carrying a roller normally out of the downward path of movement of a brush, a lever for moving the pivoted member so as to cause said stop portion to move out of the path of the bottom brush and cause it to drop downwardly at the same time moving the part carrying the roller into a stop position for the next downcoming brush, a cover hinged to the casing below the 0 brushes and having an operating device attached thereto and means operatively connected between the lever and cover device for movin the cover to open position co-incident with the release of a brush whereby the bottom brush may b passed to a proper receptacle, and further defined in that when said lever is released from cover opening and brush releasing position, automatic means will act on said pivoted member, said lever and arm to restore them to normal position whereby a brush is moved to an unloading position onto said stops and the cover to closed position.

JOSEPH PETRECCA.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 969,574 Svanberg Sept. 6, 1910 1,093,976 Claussen Apr. 21, 1914 1,149,377 Lovern Aug. 10, 1915 1,156,140 Hair Oct. 12, 191 1,728,454; Sterling Sept. 17, 1929 1,734,031 Carlson Nov. 5, 1929 1,944,499 Crimp Jan. 23, 1934 1,974,277 Johnson Sept. 18, 1934 2,546,291 Baumgartner Mar. 27, 1951 

